ASCE has honored Harry H. Yeh, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, with the 2026 International Coastal Engineering Award for his advancement of long-wave hydrodynamics for better understanding of coastal effects of tsunamis as well as his efforts to create a transdisciplinary community for tsunami research.
Yeh is among the world’s experts on tsunamis and their effects on structures, erosion, and life safety. He has achieved his reputation through excellence in theoretical work, field campaigns, and laboratory studies. His field work on tsunami impacts has involved travel to 10 stricken areas, including Okushiri Island, Japan, to investigate why the tsunami damage was so severe from the Hokkaido Nansei Tsunami of 1993. Other trips include investigating the effects of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 on India and several trips to determine the effects of the Tōhoku tsunami in Japan, including in the Fukushima area. These field visits provide valuable data, such as run-up measurements to calibrate numerical tsunami models and the examination of tsunami impacts on structures.
He and his students have conducted seminal laboratory experiments that have provided fundamental understanding of tsunami run-up and loads on structures and paved the way for new research in the area. His tsunami research also led to the development of a prestandard for the design and construction of vertical evacuation structures, which later became an essential component for the new tsunami standards of ASCE.
Yeh has organized or co-organized more than 20 workshops and scientific meetings that have helped to shape tsunami research, data sharing, field and laboratory studies, and the translation of research into practice.
The International Coastal Engineering Award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of coastal engineering in the form of engineering design, teaching, professional leadership, research, planning, or a combination thereof.
